Twisted Reality
by Maverick Wanderer
Summary: All's well in the Net for one rouge Navi... until she, Megaman, and Protoman appear in a world of Reploids and Mavericks... Rewritten, rated for later chapters...
1. Heya!

Yeah, I decided to revive this story… I rewrote some of it, and I hope it makes sense this time… I hate the first version of my stories…

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Except Maverick and Sai… they're my characters… and Khayox… which'll be explained later…

**Ch. 1 – Heya!**

A saber pointed at my chest, men in armor all around... I stood stubbornly against them... _Sai, try using a battle chip… _My arm shifted to a vulcan cannon, and I open fired before they had a chance to realize what had just happened, and I began to run again... the whole way, I couldn't help but wonder...

FLASHBACK

"Junk, junk, junk, spam, junk... hm?" I mumbled as I shifted through the e-mail, like I did every morning before Sai had to run off to school. I hated it; there was nothing to do, now that Khayox was gone... and the Officials had the Undernet under their control, so there wasn't anything to do there... Yeah, I admit it. I loved breaking the 'laws' of the net, going where other Navis feared to go, challenging others without the fear of deletion... I'm a maverick, all the way. Guess that's why my name is actually Maverick, huh? Anyways, the Epsilon family sat around the table, eating quickly. It was only Sai and her dad, but a family's a family, right? Eh, whatever. Sai's dad was a big-shot scientist, always making more than enough money for them to live happily. And that's all I cared about; my operator was happy.

"Anything interesting, Mav?"

"Eh, someone says they've found an unusual data path... an Official and someone else have been sent to check it out... they want us to help..."

"Why?"

"It's in the Undernet... They want someone that knows every twist in that place..."

"Oh, I see..."

"I really wish you two would stop getting involved in problems that aren't any of your business..." Her father interrupted, turning a page in his newspaper. Despite the fact he had his own PET, he never really used it, and liked getting mail and news the old way...

"Oh well. We'd better get to school; we're almost late!" Sai cried in surprise, slinging her bag over her shoulder, picking up the PET, and ran out the door. All day at school, I constantly thought about the offer and pestered Sai about it, until she finally agreed we could check it out. After school was out (it seemed like forever when you're trapped in a PET with nothing to do), she hurried home, jacking me into her computer before sitting down to do her homework. In the Undernet, I was sulking. The other two were late... I hate working with Officials, but still... Two Navis finally appeared, running towards me. One had red armor, silver hair, and a sword instead of one hand. The other, dressed in blue, was smaller, thinner; he looked weak... Standing up straight, I crossed my arms. When they were close enough, I sighed.

"You two the assigned Navis?"

"Yes. You must be Maverick. I'm Megaman." The blue one said with a smile.

"Protoman. Let's get going." Geez, what crawled up his ass and died? Grumbling something about 'fucking Officials', I led the way towards where the corrupt data path was.

"No one wants to get near it... last person that tried got sucked through and hasn't returned..." I said, voicing the concerns of the Undernet inhabitants.

"Let's check it out then."

"What! Are you insane! For all we know, this thing could be a cyber black-hole! We could be deleted! ... Okay, I'm in!" I said with a smirk, surprising them.

"Okay... any idea on how we'd communicate if-...!" A rumbling interrupted us, the entire Net seeming to shake, the data stream creeping forward, oh so slowly… We were thrown off balance and the darkness engulfed us…

END FLASHBACK

And I had woken up here... I hadn't seen any trace of the other two Navis... only these strange men with stranger weapons. Daylight... I ran towards the exit, slicing through anything that got in my way. The door blew open, and for the first time, I was standing in a real world; not one made up of data and programs, but physically real. Snapping out of my surprise, I made my way away from the base, only to get held up by more men, though in different armor. Automatically raising my default weapon, I took a step back.

"Lower your weapon!" One called, and I faltered for a second. It sounded like Megaman...

_Lower your weapon, Mav... I think if they'd want to attack, they would have done so by now..._ Sai told me. We could still communicate, and it's times like this I was grateful for the thought-speech program; the PET translated my thoughts to words she could hear, and sent her voice to my mind. But I had spent too much time in the Undernet to trust someone's word, and I didn't like the way these two looked. Something moved to my side, causing a blur in the corner of my eye. A virus... how had it..?

"Lower your weapon now!" I didn't hear him; there was a virus to my right; a Swordy, to be precise...

"Move!" I yelled at them, briefly 'hearing' Sai slip in another battle chip. Between the small gap, I fired upon and destroyed the virus. They all raised their weapons, and I took a step back, only to find a saber at my neck.

"I believe my friend said to lower your weapon..., so I suggest you do it, now..." Okay sit rep: Guy behind me with saber to my neck. Guys in front of me with busters and other weapons pointed at me. There was a brief scuffle, and I recognized Protoman and Megaman being shoved out into the group.

"Hi guys!" I said with a smirk/smile on my face. They stared, and blinked, processing the same sit rep I had. My own saber was ripped out of my hand and I was shoved forward. I fell forwards, spinning, temporarily regaining my balance. But when I saw the guy that had his saber to my neck, I fell... in time for a boomerang aimed at me to hit the ground, skimming not two inches above my head. Lucky me... The guy in question was in red and white armor, and had long blond hair. What had surprised me the most were his fierce blue eyes; cold and as hard as steel. Someone took out the Boomer that had tried to shoot me as I got to my feet. The others were wearing random armor, all bearing the same symbol for one reason or another. One, the one that had told me to lower my weapon in the first place, was wearing light blue armor... he looked kinda like Megaman... "Aww, my saber..."

"Get over it Maverick, and come with us." The blond man said.

"Hey, how'd you know my name?" I asked as the group started to move.

"Your name is Maverick?"

"Yep! Maverick, or Mav, as my friends call me!"

"And what about you two?" The blue-armored guy asked. "What're your names?"

"Protoman."

"I'm Megaman." That simply caused the whole group to stop, either in anger, confusion, or insult. Probably all three.

"I'm Megaman..." The blue one said, staring at Megaman. Oh boy, two Megamans? This was gonna get confusing... I spun, stomping on a Ratty, only to get a stun to my neck.

"Oww... I felt that..." I mumbled before collapsing to the floor, the world going dark.


	2. Yay for suicide missions!

Yay, reviews! Yeah, I know there's a reply button or whatever, but I like this way.

Tatsu-ZZmage: New reader! You get a cookie! -Holds out a cookie jar.-

Rose Kitsune.EXE: -Ish glomped.- . Glad you've come back! Mav's randomness shall live on! You get cookies, too! -Offers her a pick from the jar.-

-Puts the cookie jar on a table with a sign that reads 'Reviewers Only'.- Read and review, please!

**Ch. 2 – Yay for suicide missions!**

_"Sai..?"_

_"Maverick?" I was staring up through the familiar screen of my PET, into the face of my worried operator. She seemed to be fine... doing homework…_

_"Holy fudge-monkeys, rat-chick! I see you!" She laughed._

_"Nice to see you too, Mav. Are you okay?"_

_"I don't know... I can't tell what's real and what isn't any more... I'm split between two worlds, it feels like..."_

_"What do you mean?" She asked, and I explained briefly what had happened. "That's odd…" Was the response when I had finished. "I met with Lan and Chaud earlier; they've been having a small bit of trouble with their connections… Ask Protoman and Megaman if they can get in touch with their operators."_

"_Will do, Sai." I told her with a grin. The connection started to go bad, kinda fuzzy, like I was being pulled away again. _

_"Maverick!"_

I sat straight up, on a metal table or bed of sorts, startling the nurse next to me. My systems were fine, so I sung my legs over the side of the table... only to get punched backwards, causing me to do a back-flip over the whole thing. Landing none too gracefully on the other side, I stared up at an angry Protoman. "Hey, what's your problem!"

"That's for earlier..." He said simply. What was that supposed to mean? Getting to my feet, I saw that both Megamans, the blond, and Protoman were there, plus a nurse. The rest of the 'hospital' seemed empty, able to hold many more people than it did...

"What? You asked for a person who knew the Undernet well, and anyone that surfs the Undernet to know it as well as you want them to has to be insane... Like me!" I said with a smirk. Megaman.EXE sighed.

"That's not the point... Maverick, this is Megaman X and Zero..." He said, pointing to the other two.

"X and Zero... Nice ta meetcha." I signaled to the other Navis and spoke in a low under-tone, so X and Zero couldn't hear. "By the way, Mega, Proto, have you been able to get ahold of Lan or Chaud?"

"Not without speaking out loud… last thing we need is for them to think we're crazy… too late for you, though." A small smile tugged at Megaman's expression, though we quickly returned to the matter at hand.

"It seems when we're on stand-by we can return to the PETs... if the connection isn't buggy, you can communicate with them, and help each other out... Sai's even managed to send me battle chip data..." X and Zero were majorly confused, thanks to our small huddle and my sudden serious-ness. The Navis nodded and broke away, the three of us deciding which way would be best to deal with our present situation.

"What was that about?" Zero asked, eyes narrowed.

"Oh, nothing important." I said with a smile, which only caused him to narrow his eyes even more. "What? You don't trust me? Eh, I don't care; no one trusts me anyways... I'm surprised these two wanted my help, to tell ya the truth..."

"Why's that?"

"I'm a maverick! I do what I want, when I want, where I want, and how I want! No one tells me to do anything, 'cause everyone knows I'm one of the most dangerous and unpredictable around." I finished with a smirk.

"Sorry to interrupt..." A woman said as she stepped in. Blond hair, comm. set, pink uniform-ish-thing... a navigator? "Zero, X, we have a situation..."

"Okay, what is it, Alia?"

"Well..." She looked hesitantly over at us; they obviously still though we were their enemies...

"Don't let us get in the way of business..." I said, an edge in my voice. I suddenly had the urge to explore this new world, and wanted them to shut up and let us leave. But my harshness caught their attention.

"What was that for?" X asked, looking a bit hurt, which confused me even more.

"You'll have to excuse Maverick; she's not good around others..." Megaman explained, covering up my confusion. Wait, who made him my spoke-person?

"Alright... anyways, we need one of you two to go on a mission..." Alia had turned her attention back to the two guys.

"What kind of mission?" X asked; he didn't seem like a fighter...

"Well... infiltrate a Maverick base and take out their main power source..." She then explained all the technical details, which had me want to roll around on ground pretending I was a bug for lack of anything better to do.

"So it's a suicide mission?" Zero simplified it, which caught my attention.

"Pick me, I'll go, I'll go!" They looked at me like I was either insane or... insane. Yep, they thought I was insane. But... twenty minutes, a small series of tests, and a loud argument later, I was in a chopper, ready to kick some Maverick ass... and I was still uber-confused... Wasn't I Maverick...?

"..." Eyes darted left... eyes darted right... edge forward... man, I was jumpy. It wasn't the fact I was on a suicide mission that scared me though; they had said this place should be swarming with Mavericks. What were Mavericks, anyways? Rebels? And I had head something about a 'Reploid', whatever in hell that was... But the area was empty... I could almost hear my thoughts echo in the hallway... echo, echo, echo... "Hehe, that was easy..." I whispered, reaching the main power source. No opposition what so ever... _Alright Sai. Gimme a Time Bomb..._

_You got it. _A bomb appeared in my hand, preset. Attaching it to a weak spot on the source, I started the countdown and turned to head out. Only to find a buster pointed at my face. A smirk tugged at my expression as I took a step back.

**-120- **

"Hey, you guy are late. I was expecting to meet you at the front door." They glared at me... I think... they all looked like bugs, so it was hard to tell...

**-111- **

"Hunter scum..." One hissed. Uhmm... Hunter..?

**-103- **

"Uhmm... Hunter..? What's a Hunter?"

**-95- **

"Destroy her." Meep! They all moved closer...

**-86- **

"Neh!" Think fast, Mav... "I'm not a Hunter! I'm just a mercenary, I swear!" _Sai, help me out here!_

_With what!_

_Errr... Burner! Send me a Burner chip, then a Sand Trap one!_

_Got it!_

**-79- **

My saber activated in a fiery blast, flames surrounded me as I burst forward and spun, destroying the guys around me. Glancing down at their bodies, I realized they were robots as I made my way through the base...

**-10-**

**-9- **

**-8- **

**-7- **

**-6- **

**-5- **


	3. My legs hurt

Reviews are fun!

Rose Kitsune.EXE Cookies are good stuffs! And that line, I feel, defines Mav's current personality.

Maverick Hunter Phoenix Of course I live! It'd take more than -Gets run over by a truck.- Owww...

kage.exe Update ish here!

By the way, I've been thinking about hooking Mav up with someone... have any ideas? They can be about the story in general; send them my way! There are many ways to get ahold of me!

**Ch. 3 - My legs hurt...**

"Runrunrunrunrun!" And I was outta there! They were stuck in the sand traps left behind, leaving them subject to the Time Bomb explosion. But, just as I had expected, I had no transportation back to the others. Hmph. Bastards. They figured I would've been killed... riiiight... Hmmm... I wondered briefly if I could still send mail... promptly, a semi-transparent screen shimmered into existence right in front of me. Okay, creepiness... Not bothering to question it, I recorded a short clip and sent it to Megaman. Within another twenty minutes, a confused pilot picked me up in another helicopter, bringing me back to base.

One of the 'Hunters' showed me to the room where Megaman and Protoman were before going about his business. The door opened as I approached it, and Zero cracked up laughing as soon as he saw me.

"Maverick!"

"Ididn'tdoit!" My automatic response...

"Well, I'm glad we can still communicate the same way..." Protoman said dryly. "Are all your e-mails that... colorful?" I nodded. If this were an anime, I swear they'd be sweat-dropping... Megaman started to replay the e-mail I sent him.

**EMAIL**

Email from: Maverick

Re: Yay! I'm alive!

"Hi everyone! Ya, I'm glad for the support people!" I yelled sarcastically at the screen before smirking. "But... I'm alive!" Happily, with more energy than I should have had, ever, I broke out into the Charleston. "Anyways, I reeealy don't feel like walk all the way back, so would someone come pick me up? I kinda destroyed the tanks here, or else I'd drive one of them... They had machine guns on 'em too... awww...ANYWAYS, come get me now, or face my squirrelly wrath! Later days!" ... A few seconds of me staring blankly at the screen, looking completely clueless, then... blink... then... "Squirrelly wrath!"

**END EMAIL**

Zero cracked up again, tears forming at the edges of his eyes. I didn't think it was that funny... but even X, Megaman, and Protoman were at least laughing... it must've been one of those 'you just had to be there' things... Once everyone calmed down, though, they turned serious.

"How'd you do that?" X turned to me, expecting an answer.

"Do what, the clip and the e-mail?" I was lost... "I dunno. I wanted to know if I could still send e-mails, and without thinking about it, the prompt came up..."

"'Still'?" I nodded.

"Long story. I'd get bored if I tried to tell ya. And I don't think you'd believe us anyways; you already think I'm insane."

"Uhmm, Maverick? That's because you are." Protoman pointed out.

"Well, that's besides the point."

"Well, I'm ordering you to explain to them what's going on." I was on my feet in an instant, ready to beat up the arrogant Navi.

"I don't take orders from fuckin Officials, got that?" Perhaps it was my tone of voice, or the fact my saber was already drawn, or he knew of my small reputation, but he backed off quietly.

"Maverick..." Megaman tried to calm me down, but when he touched my arm, I spun around. He was now crumpled at the base the wall, a small dent in it, apparently unconscious. My breathing picked up slightly, alert, battle-ready, unwilling to listen to reason. X and Zero voice their outrage, but when I turned to face them, they readied their weapons.

"Maverick, you are hereby under arrest..." I didn't hear the last part of Protoman's sentence.

_Maverick! It's Khayox! They're taking over the Net!_

_What! They were disbanded!_ I froze, a growl rising in my throat. Khayox... a threat to both Navis and their Operators... Sai... Megaman slowly stumbled to his feet...

"I repeat, Maverick, you..." Protoman began to repeat...

"Khayox..." He froze; there was an extremely dangerous edge to my tone... I need to find the data stream... I had a feeling it was our only way home... I had to think. How..?

"What? What's Khayox?" Megaman asked, seeing how I was calm, my world going semi-fuzzy... it felt like a dream...

"All of you, calm down. What's going on?" I didn't respond to X's question, trying to calm down, trying to think...

"They're back... taking over.. we've got go... now... We can't allow them... the Net..." I realized I was tired... extremely tired; out of energy... I collapsed backwards, my world going dark again...

---

"She's been infected..." Was that Protoman..?

"What! With what?" Megaman, keep it down, man; I'm trying to sleep...

"The Maverick Virus... but it isn't acting how it normally does... she needs to be isolated and observed..."

"She isn't a science experiment for them to research! She's just tired and stressed out... besides, can we even get infected?"

"I'm not sure, but she's a Maverick and needs to be dealt with. You heard the others talking; we have no choice."

"But..."

"Do you remember how she was acting, threatening us? If that's how she normally acts, think about how unpredictable she'll be when the virus kicks in. We can't risk it... she might turn on us."

"She wouldn't do that... she might be rather insane, but she has a good heart..."

"Still... Signas says she needs to stay where she can't do any damage..."

"Uhmm... she's a suicidal mercenary with a variety of dangerous battlechips her operator can supply her with... she can do damage anywhere..." My eyes snapped open, and I sat up suddenly, causing them to look at me as I swung my legs over the side of the table and stood up.

"Hey guys." My usual grin, with the usual care-free attitude as I sauntered over to the other two Navis. "Any news?"

"No, not that you need to concern yourself with." Woah, Protoman being colder than usual... My eyes narrowed and I smirked, going from innocent to dangerous. They seemed surprised at the half a second it took for me to do a one-eighty.

"Not even me bein infected and all? I dunno about you, but the idea of being locked up doesn't float too well with me..." Giving a shrug, I held it for a minute. "But then again, I am a suicidal mercenary with a variety of dangerous battlechips my operator can supply me with; I can do damage anywhere, so it shouldn't matter to me." The two Hunters entered, apparently hoping for a peaceful cooperation.

"Just follow orders and we won't have to hurt you." X stated. Oooh, cocky, wasn't he? But they were serious...

"You? Hurt me?" I started to laugh. "You'll have to catch me first..." And I was off! Dodge Megaman and Protoman, weave between X and the wall, launch myself over Zero, duck beneath his saber, and dash into the hall. An alarm went off; they really must've wanted me under control... But no one can control a maverick... Recalling briefly where the garage/hanger was I lept over the railing of the third-floor staircase, dropping a full two floors and landing on my feet (oww... sore legs...) before running that way. Most of the Hunters had no clue it was me they had to look out for, but they attempted to restrain me anyways... I led them on a wild chase all around the first floor (which included an obstacle course through the kitchen/mess hall) before escaping into the hanger and starting up a Landrover, leaving the others behind... About half an hour later, I ditched the rover and continued on foot. Apparently, we Navis didn't have a signal of sorts that they could pick up on their scans (heck, none of their scans could pick us up!), so it was best... After an hour of walking in one random direction through dirt and grass and sand and mud, I knelt down to think. Okay... I could still send e-mail... the thought-speech program was active... which ment I was still connected to the PET... but how? A faint shimmering on the ground caught my eye, but when I stared at where it had been, it was gone... A data thread! There was the invisible link between a Navi and their PET at all times! It was like we were still in the Net! So... all I needed to do... was find a teleporter... and... hm. I could probably set it to follow the path of the thought-speech program... it sent my voice out to the PET, out the speakers, and sent Sai's voice directly to my mind... so, if I did that... chances were... I would be home! All I had to do was

_**-hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm-**_

avoid being shot in the head.


	4. Time to take some chances

Wow... it's been like... forever XD Don't shoot me! Life got all hectic and stuff and I thought I lost these files!

... And now, to update this thing for the first time in over a year...

**Ch. 4 - Time to take some chances.**

Slowly, still kneeling, I turned to find someone holding a charged plasma rifle to my head. "Hi?" Please don't shoot me, please don't shoot me, please don't shoot me...

"... stand up..." Okay, listen to the evil gun-wielding Maverick.. I think that's what he was, anyways... I stood up and fully faced him, arms some-what in the air. His silver armor glinted in the sun, which was beginning to set... "What's your name, Hunter?"

"Maverick."

"I think I know what I am... now what's your name?"

"No… My name is Maverick, what's yours?"

"Ruxad...interesting, a Maverick Hunter named Maverick..."

"Actually... I'm just a mercenary... and the Hunters seemed to have labeled me as being a Maverick, which is fine... except for the hunt-down-and-capture part of the whole deal..."

"Why do they simply want to capture you?" Oh man, think fast... think really fast...

"Cause I'm a... prototype! I can't be detected by scans, and have a wide variety of abilities!" Yeah, that would work! "They want to try to erase the virus from my systems and see if any of my programming can be useful, but..." He chuckled, though the cold smirk was still in his eyes as he lowered the weapon. Giving a sigh, I plopped down onto the ground, staring up at him. "So whatcha doin out in da middle of No-wheres-vil, hm?"

"..." He stared down at me, and I blinked.

"Whatsa matter? Like I've got anyone to snitch to." Shrugging, I closed my eyes. I heard him sit down as well.

"You seem different from other Reploids..."

"Told ya, I'm a prototype. Dunno what I'm supposed ta be able ta do, but fightin, travelin, and gettin the job done are my specialties."

"Your entire demeanor, and attitude, as well as speech patterns... you're almost human."

"Human?! Tch, waste of space, they are. Most are idiots or ass-holes that don't appreciate you for who you are. Even if we are machines, they created us with AI for a reason. They seem to think we're simply tools to be used to do what they want us to do, then they can throw us out like an old part. They don't seem to understand that we have feelings too, even if they are just strands of data..." Wow, insightful... whatever. Just keep talking. "The Mavericks, I think, are the robotic counterpart of the human race. They represent what the humans are going to end up acting like, what they're going to do. Mavericks are a warning; humans have to stop being such morons to see it. This world is going to get destroyed. If not by Mavericks, by humans, and there is nothing we can do about it except do what we do best and move on."

"You know what? You're right. I don't believe anyone saw it that way before; it took a prototype to point it out. Did you tell the Hunters?"

"No... as soon as they noted a virus in my systems, I ran. I'm not some fucking science experiment." There was a pause; I had said that straight from my heart... or whatever we Navis had in place of one...

_Mav…? Are you okay…? _Sai... she had been listening, and I felt a pang of guilt. She was human, and I had just ranted about how stupid they were... _Mav-! _Sai suddenly cut off, a panic began to stir within me.

_Sai..?_

No response...

_Sai? Sai?! Sai!!_

"Are you alright?" Ruxad asked me; I had apparently gone pale when Sai didn't answer...

"Yeah... no... Oh no... Ruxad, do you know where a teleporter is?!"

"Yeah, there's one in town, used for transporting supplies, why?"

"I need one... badly..."

"Then I'll show you where it is." He wasn't really a Maverick; he was helping me, wasn't he? Apparently, the whole 'piss-me-off-and-I'll-kill-you' thing was just a defense... We got up and ran to the nearest town, while he explained to me where it was. In a shop of sorts, usually guarded by and monitored by several humans.

"I need to set it to follow a particular data stream; is it possible?"

"Theoretically, yes. But I don't think they'd let you..."

"Oh, they'll let me... I can be rather... persuasive..." Once in town, we slowed our pace to a brisk walk. I noted the area's layout as he showed me to the building. Letting ourselves in, I found several humans just lounging around. Not dealing with them, I headed straight towards the main console next to the teleporting pad. I had seen Hunters using them in my brief game of cops-and-robbers throughout their base.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" One human cried, startling the others as they got up.

"Sorry, but I must use this teleporter; it's, as you might say, for science... and it could be a life saver..." I said, one of my internal programs analyzing the code on screen. My fingers flew over the keyboard as I backed it up and edited it heavily.

"You can't..!"

"Do not try to stop me; more than one life depends on this, and if I don't get this done, I will get very, very, very upset... Do I make myself clear?" My tone had an edge to it, Ruxad stared at me in surprise, my face like stone. At the moment, I seemed more like a Maverick than he was... They always said I should have been a military program... The humans, surprisingly, backed off as I worked for a minute. "Ruxad, do me a favor, and stay here in case I come back this way. Last time, I passed out for a few minutes..." Not waiting for his answer, I activated the teleporter and jumped in...

**--SHWOMP--**


	5. waohtrippyhi!

Mkay, one more chapter for the night. Maybe I'll upload more tomorrow...

Tatsu-ZZmage - FWEHEHEHAHAHA! XD Glad you enjoy teh randomness. Reboot? What ish tis reboot ye speaketh of?

**Ch. 5 - waohtrippyhi!**

...and tumbled out onto a narrow walkway... The Undernet! w00t! I recognized the dark place instantly and did a small dance. "Yay! Success! Now... to find out what has happened..."

"Sai-cha-an!" I called from my PET, finally home. No answer... the room was empty... it appeared to be a hospital room of sorts...

"Who's there? Are you her Navi?" Someone asked; the lights were off, so I couldn't 'see' him.

"Yeah; what's goin on? Who're you?"

"Dr. Hidero. You must be Maverick..."

"Yep. What happened to Sai-chan?"

"I'm not sure, they said it was an attack of sorts. Khayox has been attacking Operators in several areas; there are a few others is in here too, but they've almost recovered. Don't worry about Sai, she'll be fine."

"I see, well... thanks." ... this is bad... "Would, by chance, Lan or Chaud be here?" I heard a chair squeak as the doctor sat down.

"Lan and Chaud... yes, I believe so..."

"How're they doin?" At his pause, I gave a small chuckle. "Friends of ours; I can't help but worry..."

"Well... Lan has a mild concussion and a broken arm, though he may be released within a couple days. Chaud escaped with only a few cuts that needed to be stitched up; he's leaving tomorrow."

"I see... thanks, Dr. If Sai wakes up... tell her I said to do her homework!" He chuckled, and I disappeared into the Net again.

Undernet... there were alot of Khayox 'officials' patrolling it... A rather large and heavy set one was trying to stomp on a Metool, but was rather slow and let out a grunt with each heavy movement. Doing aside, I tackled the Metool and rolled to my feet, running with the mini virus in my arms. I winced as a bullet clipped my arm, but it didn't slow me down. "Hiya lil guy! Don'tcha worry now, no more big stomping dude!"

"dood!"

"Hehe, I like you. I shall call you Zet! Zet da Met!"

"zetdamet!" Finding the corrupt data stream without a problem, I hesitated. There were no officials in this area, so I sat down to think. Again. Unfortunately, I didn't have much time to do so, as someone approached. Not wanting to risk a battle without my operator to support me, I dove through the data stream...

**--PMOWHS--**

...and tumbled to the floor, dazed for a minute...

"Woah... trippy... hi!" I waved up at Ruxad, grinning.

"waohtrippyhi!"

"Hehe... did you do what you needed?" I nodded, and then deleted the program I had created, so the transporter could be used for it's desired purpose again.

"Yeah, met Zet here; say hi, lil' guy!"

"zetdamet!" Zet said happily, waving around his little pick-axe.

"Aww, ain't he cute? Anways, I gotta go, thanks!" I waved as I headed for the door, almost into the town... when a some-what familiar red Hunter blocked my path. "Cr-ap-ah..."

"Goin somewhere, Mav?"

"Nah, not really... thinkin 'bout headin to the bookstore to pick up a nice romance novel or somethin..."

"zetdamet!" Zet was waving his pick-axe somewhat angrily at Zero, as if to mirror my feelings about the harsh Reploid. It was only him in the doorway, with his saber, and I don't think I'd be able to pull the same trick twice... Zero raised his eyebrow at the small creature, who had hopped out of my arms and was now bouncing up and down, repeating himself, waving his small weapon, as if to tell the Hunter to back off. Glancing over my shoulder, I noted Ruxad had disappeared... "ZETDAMET!" Pick-axe, meet Zero's foot... Zero's foot, meet pain. While the Hunter was recovering from the minor yet really painful attack and the surprise that went along with it, I scooped up Zet and tackled Zero, knocking him off-balance, before I rolled to my feet and ran again.

"Maverick! Wait!" X called as I passed him.

"Hell no!" I yelled over my shoulder, almost tripping myself as I rounded a corner, heading for the outskirts of the town. I turned my head slightly; no one was following me... Frowning a bit, I slowed down to a quick walk. Zet peered up from under his helmet.

"dood?" I gave him a grin, almost chuckling.

"Yeah, the scary dudes are gone..." Still, my instincts screamed at me to keep running... which I probably should have, I realized as I was tackled from the side. Zet tumbled from my arms, and two people restrained me as I struggled against them. A small scuffle took place, one that I did not win…

"Maverick, calm down!" Megaman whispered. "We're not going to take you back to the base…"

"Coulda fooled me." I hissed from my spot on the ground. Zet watched the three of us before waddling over.

"dood?"

"Mav… where did you find that met?"

"The Undernet…"

"When..?"

"Well… I'd be more than happy to tell you if you guys weren't using me as a seat…" Giving a laugh as they stood up, Megaman helped me to my feet. Dusting myself off, flashed them a grin. "I actually had an idea that worked! And didn't really involve destroying something…" Leaning against a building, I opened my mouth to explain my theory, but it was then X found us…

"There you guys are… Mav..?" He paused, looking over his shoulder. "Zero's coming… I don't want to fight you…" Protoman gave him an even look, which left me somewhat nervous…

"Then don't. We didn't find her; she must have escaped while we were searching a different area. Maverick-"

"The blood of three has been spilt..." I murmured. Megaman paled, understanding what I meant as I turned, picking up Zet before running again.

"Wait-!" I heard him call, but I lost him in the darkness.


	6. Death, inside and out

Tatsu-ZZmage - X3 Be warned, it gets a bit darker in later chapters... like this one.

**Ch. 6 - Death, inside and out**

What happened next was a sort of blur... I met Ruxad again in the wasteland in the middle of the night, and we spent the remainder of the dark hours to put as much distance between us and the town, mainly in silence. My thoughts often turned to Sai, but since it was still night, no one was around to talk to in the hospital. Only when the sun came up did we rest, and even that was in silence. He didn't seem to care about an explanation or anything, so I was thankful for the lack of questions... The doctor came back into the room for a bit in the morning, so I chatted with him as I half-rested, regaining what energy I could. Dr. Hidero left, a rather nice nurse came, and then she left before Ruxad and I began to move again. Time passed, people came and left, Ruxad and I found ourselves in a desert... It sort of blurred together, as the days were almost the same until Sai recovered, and for some reason, we didn't talk much... I could see why the virus was dangerous; Ruxad steadily began to loose his self control, often slipping into various mind-states that all had one thing in common: paranoia. He was constantly watching his back, and it seemed almost contagious, as I caught myself doing the same thing, which maybe was a good thing...

"DIE!" The twisted, harsh cry came suddenly from my left, where Ruxad had fallen back a few steps. I tumbled forward, evading the staff that had offered to help me loose quite a bit of weight.

"Dude! What the hell?!" Evading another stab at me, I caught the weapon between my armored hands, struggling to keep the plasma tip away from my body. "Ruxad!" A strange, hysterical giggle escaped him as he jerked back with more strength than before, making me stumble in an attempt to not get stabbed. All the while, he was muttering random incoherencies, heightening the feeling that he had finally fully succumbed to the virus. Pulling my saber, I parried his blows, forcing him back as I remained defensive. Zet was watching, a bit confused; he had seemed to grow attached to Ruxad. _Sai! Help!_ There wasn't a reply, and there wasn't any new data to help me. Maybe she just left the PET in her bag or something... Another strike blocked, and I countered against the insane Reploid in front of me. There was a small hiss, the armor giving way to my blade... Ruxad's eyes were sort of open in their insane, surprised gaze as he slumped to the ground, his core destroyed... Taking a step back, I fell over nothing, and landed on my rear. He was dead; I was safe... It was in that moment I realized something was horribly wrong.

My spazzing, my randomness, my carelessness; everything that had made life enjoyable, had disappeared when Sai had been hurt. Our lack of communication didn't help any, either... I always wanted to hear her laugh; it always let me know everything was alright... that we had done the right thing... A sob escaped me, and I bent forward, facing the ground. What the hell was going on?! Why the hell was this shit happening to me?! I felt a tear run down one cheek before rolling off my face, landing on my thigh, as scrambled thoughts cluttered my mind. Zet waddled over; I could feel his confused gaze on me as the virus-creature remained silent.

"dood?" He finally asked as I regained control of myself, and I gave him a weak grin.

"Dude's dead, Zet..." I whispered; it still seemed to be unreal to me; only now did the daze that had covered the past two weeks or so begin to lift. "It's just us from here on out, kay?"

"kay!" The creature seemed to be getting smarter, and it was a comfort to talk to... With one more smile, this one stronger than the last, I stood, wiping my face dry, and picking up my friend.

"How 'bout this... we find the nearest city, teleport home, and find out what's been going on there, eh?" Zet gave a small chirpy-like sound as he nodded. With that decided, I held him in my arms as I steadily started to jog. The phantom of a smile remained on my face, and I felt a small spark of hope: we would get through this.

As I approached the next city, hours later, the sun about to go down, I pick up a door opening in my mind. I heard a crash, and a shout, and in an instant, I froze. _Sai..? _No answer... _Someone?! HEY! _There was another cry of pain, and the sound of something being knocked over... A man's harsh voice gave a command, and someone cried out once more before it went semi-silent; it sounded like they were looking for something. Softly, I heard someone speak to me.

_Run... sever your connection with this PET... or you shall doom both worlds. _Said the voice, and I felt anger well up inside.

_What's going on?! Answer me!_

_Go, Khayox. It's too late. _Repressing the urge to shiver, I felt chills run up and down my spine. There was a brief flash of memory, but before I could recognize it, it was gone. It left me unnerved though, and I could feel panic rising in my gut.

_What did you call me?! Where's Sai?! SAI!_

_She's dead; run._

_What the-?! _The connection went blank, and a strange, unwelcoming emptiness grew inside of me. Zet leaped to the ground as I slowly began to shudder. My legs gave out, and I collapsed to the earthen ground, violently shaking as I tried to breathe. Sai was... no... who was... voices... why... My thoughts steadily became more and more scrambled, and my energy left me, the world going dark.

When I awoke, it was in a dark cell of sorts, and around me I could hear various others arguing, complaining, or even breathing. It seemed to be a jail, perhaps... around me I could tell all those around were Reploids, and when I looked at their expressions, their eyes, I could tell they were infected with the Maverick Virus. I had been told by Ruxad that Hunters often times imprisoned the Mavericks they could, so they could try to find a cure... With a sob, I buried my head in my arms as my memories came back to me. Ruxad had turned on me... Sai... Sai was dead... according to the strange voice... who had that been? He had sounded familiar, but... A clang caused my head to jerk up, peering at the Hunter who appeared at the door to my small cell. How did I know he was a Hunter? Many had the same symbol on their armor... Hunters gone Maverick would scratch it off; that much I knew.

"Get up, Maverick." His tone suggested he didn't know my name, but there was a venomous sting to the way he said it. It would be easier for me to follow orders from here on out, I decided, so I stood on his command. He shackled my arms behind my back with rather heavy cuffs, and I steadily followed him from the hell-hole I had been in. It wasn't long before I recognized the Hunter base, proving my hunch that I had been found by them... Keeping my gaze down, I remained silent, even after he had me seated in a questioning room. I was seated facing the door, two more Hunters stood on both sides of it, ready in case I tried to escape or something. Closing my eyes, I let my head drop forward, my chin on my chest. After a few moments, the door opened, and I heard a few sets of footsteps.

A minute passed in silence before I opened one eye, tilting my head slightly. The guards had left, replaced by Protoman and Zero. Megaman and X sat in front of me, across the table. "Maverick..." X started softly. "Are you alright?" When I simply closed my eye and let my head drop again, he sighed. "It's been at least two weeks since you ran off; you were found half a day's walk from a dead Maverick, your Metool freaking out. What happened?"

"..."

"Maverick." This time it was Megaman addressing me. "There are people that care about you; please, talk with us." An ache was building around the hole within me. I could almost feel the helpless glances exchanged between the Megamans before Protoman spoke up.

"X, Zero, could you excuse the three of us for a moment?" Knowing Zero, he was about to protest when X stopped him.

"Sure, guys. Just holler if anything happens, okay?" Zero whispered to X angrily as the door opened, but he followed the Blue Hunter out. Once the door was closed again, Protoman walked over and sat down.

"Alright, Maverick: speak up. Normally, you'd be spouting off some randomness, or supporting our belief that you're insane and unstable. I know this is tough to deal with, but we're doing everything we can to get home without giving ourselves away."

"Have you gotten any news from Sai?" Megaman asked, and the question summoned the memories from before I had passed out. Again, I began to shake, unable to cry, and I gritted my teeth. I hadn't been able to do anything... they killed her... "Lan... what?" He asked his operator, confused by my reaction. Since X and Zero weren't here, he could speak freely... It was Chaud, I think, who answered, as two screens shimmered into existence next to the other Navis. His hair looked weird...

"... A teenage girl was found murdered in her room this morning, her father has been arrested, charged with her death; no names were released. A PET was found in her book bag, which she seemed to of been protecting, but no Navi data was found connected to it..." I could almost hear the 'what-if's they were thinking of, so I swallowed and whispered so they didn't have to wonder.

"Sai... Khayox killed her..." Now that it had been said out loud, a barrier broke and the tears ran freely. Looking up at them, I gave a groan as realization hit me. "She was protecting me from them... they're after me... She didn't know who I was... I didn't know..." She had saved me when I was on the verge of deletion, and I replaced her off-the-shelf Navi... Sai had never questioned me on where I had come from; maybe she knew I couldn't access my memories... Khayox... The stranger called me Khayox... I was... oh no... I paled, and my empty gaze held a hint of pleading. "Kill me..." I wasn't supposed to escape! I'm not supposed to exist...

"Maverick, calm down!" Megaman yelled at me, jumping to his feet. "You're still in shock about the whole thing; we'll figure this out. Lan, Chaud, we're going to go get the others..." They nodded, the screens disappeared, and Megaman went to the door, calling X and Zero back in.

"Well..?" X started, seeing my tears drying on my cheeks. I remained silent for a minute more before I looked to him, eyes hollow.

"Thanks for worrying... but it'd be best if I was dead..." My tone had gone cold, shocking him, and Zero narrowed his eyes. "I'm more dangerous to your existence alive; the Mavericks are after me... they will stop at nothing to obtain the data I hold..." With me still alive, Khayox could truly be reborn... it all started to piece together in my mind.

"Mav-!" Protoman growled, but he stopped in what he was saying. Something stirred within me, and when my eyes landed on him, he froze, then tensed up.

"Khayox will be reconstructed if I remain alive... please... kill me." With that, I slumped forward, completely unresponsive from that point on, temporarily shutting myself down. The pain... the emptiness... it had to go away... eventually...


	7. The fall of a beast

**Ch. 7 - The fall of a beast**

Whoa, de-ja-vu... I was staring at the ceiling of the hospital room. Hesitantly, I sat up, almost expecting Protoman to punch me, as I glanced around. No one was there... why was I alive? Slowly standing, I took one more glance around before I moved to a window. Only three stories up; not a problem. The following ten minutes were spent trying to open said window before I simply broke it with my fist in frustration and leapt out. If they weren't going to kill me, I just had to do it myself. Suicide's a great thing, huh? Rolling on the ground, I began to run again, towards a nearby city. It wouldn't be long before they realized I was gone, so I had to move fast. Hitching a ride on a leaving train, I climbed to the top of it, watching the city quickly disappear as the train picked up speed. Kneeling, I looked forward, towards where I was going. The middle of nowhere, without any weapons: peachy. Laying on my stomach, watching the wasteland approach, I closed my eyes. I must've dozed for a bit, because a heavy jolt caused my eyes to open in surprise, and it was dark once more. It had been two days since Sai had been killed, I realized... The train wavered dangerously, and a plasma blast hit it's side, forcing it to derail. Leaping off before I got crushed, I watched the darkness for a moment before backing up, away from where the blast had come from... Only to have a heavy hand come down on my head, dazing me before I dropped forward.

* * *

Was it just me, or was I developing a bad habit of blacking out? With a grunt, I tried to move to find several cables seemed to be connected to my armor, weighing me down quite a bit. And my armor itself was... different... It didn't feel the same... Opening my eyes, I was startled to see everything I could see had a reddish tint to it. Then I realized my helmet, which seemed to weight much more than it used to, now had a red visor. Tilting my head slightly, I noted that once more, I seemed to be contained in a cell of sorts, but I automatically knew I was no where near Hunter Base. A hum came from the walls of the hexagonal chamber, wires connected everywhere, forming a spider-web pattern around me, suspending me in mid-air... which was only a half a foot or so off the ground. If I could of moved, if I reached out, I would have been able to touch the walls and ceiling without stretching too far. But I couldn't; I could only hang there, wondering what the fuck was going on. A low chuckle echoed throughout the chamber, causing me to tense up. But even that hurt; my body was unusually sore... like I had been beaten senseless multiple times in my sleep...

"So you're awake, Khayox." This voice was the one of one who had been a Maverick quite a while, and it sounded amused.

"Maverick..." I murmured subconsciously. "My name's Maverick..." Even speaking that small bit left me drained... almost gasping for breath.

"It doesn't matter to me; you're simply an object to be traded for another." He said with another of his creepy chuckles. Then what does he do? The typical bad guy thing: he starts spilling his evil guts 'cause he's positive he's going to come out on top. "I was a bit surprised when you and your friends emerged from the faulty teleporter... I was about to behead the programmer who screwed it up when I discovered this new world could aid me. Of course I was skeptic; it isn't logical for 'another world' to be connected to ours. But it was easy to find a likable businessman... One World Wide Network for one enslaved world... of course, we both needed to find a certain something to develop what we needed in order to take over." A pause for dramatic effect, I think, then another one of his chuckles. "You... you hold the data we need... There shall be not one but two Khayoxes in existence!" His chuckle climbed to a laugh, and if I could of, I would have twirled a finger and said 'whoop-dee-doo'. But I couldn't, so I didn't. My energy was draining, so as I half passed out again, I missed what Mr. Chuckles had said after his laugh.

"Stand up, Khayox." The order reached my mind, and I had a 'what the fuck' thought: I couldn't move. But the order came again, and something in my subconscious reacted by trying to stand. The chamber thing gave a jerk, and gravity tugged at me for a minute before it stopped. Something stirred within me once more before it took over, and I was suddenly just a passenger in my own body. The walls seemed to go transparent, offering a view of what was outside. A large, bald Reploid was laughing: Mr. Chuckles... he had what looked to be a ton of armor, and some scars on his face. He had probably lost more than once to the Hunters before running away.

Within a moment, I knew what was going on... I was within the body of a beast, quite literally. Powerful wings swept forward in a test of their functionality, a tail snaked across the ground. Blades were at major joints, turning the body itself into a weapon. There were blades even attached to the skull, curving backwards. I seemed to be balancing on my toes, the legs jointed differently, more like a bird's or lizard's than a human's... Claws flexed on a subconscious command, digging into the metal flooring as though it were dirt. A roar escaped the creature, as if threatening enemies away, and Mr. Chuckles laughed once more.

"Khayox... destroy! Destroy those who oppose the Mavericks!" Mr. Chuckles said, throwing his arms in the air as he started to laugh. His answer was another roar, and I closed my eyes as the world stared to move. It wasn't long, though, before a human scream caused me to open them in shock. A woman picked up her child and ran towards the center of the busy city... the ground quaked as the beast landed, it's claws slicing through the steel structure of a building as though it were mere paper. The building collapsed upon itself, and Khayox opened it's mouth... streams of plasma streaked forward, hitting random targets. I tried to close my ears to the terrified screams coming from the people dieing as the body moved forward again. I wasn't in control. It was not long before I recognized those who stood in front of me, on top of the ruble of a building I had destroyed, ready to try to take me down. My energy hadn't recovered, but the body had an abundance of it. It roared at them before going to take them out. The battle itself was just another blur in a half-conscious mind, but they were strong... every blow against Khayox was a blow against me... and it was painful... Megaman and X attacked at a bit of a range, along with a spiky-haired, dark-armored Hunter with an 'X' scar across his nose that I didn't recognize; he looked young, and he was a good shot... Zero and Protoman came up close, moving a bit faster than Khayox could, trying to avoid the bladed body while dealing damage.

It could have been minutes, or it could have been hours, before Khayox fell to them, the beast's body failing to respond to commands. And then... A single plasma bullet shattered the outer armor, hitting the wall directly in front of me. I don't know who shot it... but Khayox retreated deeper into my programming, the beast-body shutting down... Someone walked up to the body; I couldn't tell who because the visuals had failed, but someone else was yelling something at them. A hand broke through the wall, pulling me free of my imprisonment, holding me close, and I welcomed the darkness that came over me, as it brought much-needed rest...

* * *

For the third time in the half a month since we had arrived in the Hunter's world, I awoke to find myself in their base's hospital wing. With a groan, I again sat up. My peripheral vision caught a quick movement towards me, and I instinctively flinched away. I was a nervous wreck; when the gentle hand landed on my shoulder, I jumped and tried to pull away. The hand got caught on part of my armor, and a familiar scent caused me to gag. If I could of, I probably would of vomited right there.

"Glad to see you're awake... how do you feel?" A familiar, cool voice asked me, and I turned to face him. Almost angelic in appearance, his white and light blue armor was decorated with what seemed to be bladed feathers and spikes... I couldn't see his eyes behind his dark blue visor, which looked purple to me.

"You... you..." A few memories tried to surface at the same time, leaving me light-headed. He was the one who had told me to run when Sai was being attacked... he... killed me..? He gave me a small, sad sort of smile...

"Me... yes, I told you to leave your PET. I had witnessed the power of Khayox before, and I didn't want it to return."

"You killed me before, didn't you?" My question was low, shaky. He bowed his head for a moment, as if he regretted his past actions. With a sigh, he replied.

"Yes, and no... Twisted by hatred, I attempted to disband Khayox. How dare they create something to attack me? With their main weapon destroyed, there would be little they could do to threaten my power... But I couldn't finish it. Part of the creature escaped, and was found, mistaken for a nearly destroyed Navi, before I could find it. I knew you were Khayox when I first saw you not two weeks later, running around the Undernet as though it was your home. But..." He paused, hesitating. "I saw myself in you, but you seemed so... happy... you confused me; I'll admit it, and as I watched you, over time, I tried to figure you out. You knew you were capable of destruction, and many times you almost answered your calling, am I right?" At the pause, I nodded mutely. When my temper had almost run out, I often wanted to bring death upon the source of my anger, but I responded instead with my randomness... "But you didn't; you went on with life, whereas I simply tried to destroy everything in my way..." Khayox... they had chained me down... so I couldn't fight back while they tortured me, keeping me in check...

"Serphan..." Now I knew who he was... We balanced eachother... one couldn't exist without eachother... Both created at the same time, but one locked away in the Undernet. Both capable of mass destruction... and violent in our emptiness. I'm more than sure Megaman, and others, had run into him during their travels... Stories lingered about the Fallen Angel, Serphan, and how twisted and evil he was... "Everyone has to deal with what happens in their own way; there is nothing to be sorry for if it was the best thing for you to do at the time. The past is behind us for a reason; if we look back to try to change it, we'll stumble and risk loosing our future too." I gave him a grin, and a shrug. "Eh, who am I to dabble in philosophical crap? I want to know what the hell has been going on!" I moved to stand up, and he put one hand out to stop or support me.

"Khayox-"

"I'm not Khayox! I'm Maverick!" A small grin tugged at his lips, I placed a hand on his shoulder, and he helped me stand as I gave a laugh. "Right now, I want to get out of this armor; I feel like a walking blender." Swiftly, he wrapped an arm around me, my arm wrapped around his shoulders, and he helped me walk to the door. "Why're you helping me?"

"It's no use trying to keep you down; might as well make sure you don't collapse and hurt yourself, eh?" He said with another grin. It was obvious to me he rarely had anything to smile about, so I gave one shoulder a squeeze.

"Aww, but it'd be like my own little suicide mission! Me vs. the floor! I still don't know which parts of me are pointy, though, so I'd probably stab myself..."

"Well, that would probably be a bad thing, and you'd end up back in the hospital hall."

"Yeah, I seem to end up there a lot, huh?" I chuckled and shook my head. "Serphan... you weren't always like this, huh?"

"What do you mean?"

"There's always stories to listen to, y'know... you seem to of recently changed... I always hear about how you were evil, twisted, cruel, demented, vengeful... and you seem to hesitate when talking, as if you're not used to simply saying something..."

"Guess I deserve the reputation..." He said with a shake of his head. I jokingly dodged the spikes on his helmet, and he chuckled. "But it's like I've been given another chance... the world feels a bit brighter, y'know..? Maybe it's just an effect you have on people..." Megaman approached though as he turned the corner, and he gave Serphan a glare. Immediately, I could feel the rise in tension, and I almost groaned.


End file.
